Sentebale

Sentebale is a charity set up in April 2006 by Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and the Prince Harry of Wales, the younger son of Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles, to help vulnerable children and young people in Lesotho, particularly those who have been orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS. The new organization was a step in Prince Harry's pledge to continue his mother's work with disadvantaged children. Prince Seeiso's mother, Queen Mamohato, a much-loved figure in her country, had died in 2003. Harry told the Concert for Diana website: "Sentebale means 'forget me not'. We chose the name as a memorial to the charity work of our own mothers, as well as a reminder to us all not to forget Lesotho or its children."

Sentebale is a charity registered in the UK, and with its chief executive in the UK, but it carries out its charitable work in Lesotho.

The charity is one of the beneficiaries of proceeds from a July 1, 2007 Concert for Diana in the United Kingdom, organized by Prince Harry and his brother Prince William to celebrate their mother's life and commemorate her achievements about a month before what would have been her 46th birthday. The London concert, featuring a large line-up of the Princess's favourite acts and more recently discovered talent — from Rod Stewart, Elton John and Duran Duran to the West End's newest leading man Lee Mead, winner on June 9, 2007 of a BBC One TV search for London theatreland's latest Joseph in "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" — was televised in 140 countries.

Background to Lesotho

With a per capita income of US $520 in 2000, Lesotho is among the 49 Least Developed Countries and is ranked 91st on the United Nations Development Programme's Human Poverty Index Scale,’ says the World Health Organization. [http://www.who.int/hac/crises/lso/en] With a population of 2.2 million and 320,000 of its adults estimated to be living with HIV, Lesotho is facing a national disaster.

entebale staff

The Chief Executive of Sentebale is Geoffrey Matthews, who is Project secretary to Prince Harry and Prince William. Until January 2007 Geoffrey Matthews was also the Chief Executive of the Traditional Arts company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Prince's Charities Foundation.

The Country Director based in Lesotho is Harper Brown, who joined the charity in November 2006. Before joining Sentebale, Brown was lead Director for Strategic Planning and Director of Integrated Care for Castle Point & Rochford Primary Care Trust in South Essex. For the past twenty years he has worked for the NHS in the UK.

Criticisms

When the charity's first accounts were published in March 2008, it was revealed that despite more than $2.4 million donated to the charity in the first 18 months, only $183,000 in grants were allocated for charity work. [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/03/25/1206207047894.html] This compares to $195,000 which was paid to a single employee of the charity. [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23398620-2,00.html]

Projects

Sentebale is supporting a number of projects, which include:

* The Lesotho Child Counselling Unit, a safe house where abused children may stay while the courts decide on their cases
* The Mants'ase Children's Home, the only children's home and care facility in southern Lesotho. [http://www.mantsasechildrenshome.org/]
* The Maloti Crop Share scheme, which helps increase food security for 33 villages and their orphans and vulnerable children. Government officials have visited the project and are broadcasting lessons learned from its best practice across Lesotho on local radio.
*The supply of motorbike ambulances, which can overcome the country's lack of transport infrastructure. [http://www.eranger.com/news/read/article/40/1/82d8b3732e.html]

External links

* [http://www.sentebale.org/home/index.html Sentabale’s website]
* [http://www.who.int/hac/crises/lso/en/ World Health Organization on HIV and AIDS in Lesotho]
* [http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Countries/lesotho.asp/ UNAIDS profile of Lesotho]
* [http://www.concertfordiana.com/ Concert for Diana news and information site]